Protequus and Exceed Equine Announce New Research Alliance to Protect the Welfare of Racehorses
AUSTIN, TEXAS and NEW EGYPT, NEW JERSEY – Protequus® and Exceed Equine announce a new strategic alliance to leverage the NIGHTWATCH® smart halter™ and advances in data science to protect the welfare of racehorses at Exceed Equine’s cutting-edge research, training, and rehabilitation center.
For decades racehorse trainers have relied upon past performance coupled with subjective and anecdotal information to gain a winning edge. However, today through advances in AI (artificial intelligence), biosensors, and IoT (internet of thing) technology, we have the ability to apply objective insight into an animal’s wellbeing to predict future outcomes. Through this new research initiative Protequus® and Exceed Equine, two respected leaders in the field, hope to better understand the impact of traditional vs contemporary training methods on a racehorse’s recovery by examining distress levels and quality of rest post-exercise and overnight.
“Protecting the welfare of horses has always been at the heart of what we do at Protequus®. Through our partnership with Exceed Equine we now have an opportunity to extend animal welfare protection to the track,” said Jeffrey R. Schab, Founder & CEO of Protequus®. “In the near future, it is our hope that post-exercise analysis of an animal’s distress, rest, and recovery, will enable all of us the ability to prevent injury, mitigate breakdown, and predict on-track performance” explains Jeffrey.
“The ability to measure overnight heart and respiratory recovery rates against a multitude of training regimens provides further insight into the advanced training and rehabilitation programs being implemented at Exceed Equine,” states Exceed Equine’s CEO Michael Calderone. “This type of data compliments our forward-thinking processes and will allow us to further explore/develop additional advanced training and rehabilitation programs that will be applied first to our own stable of racehorses and, if successful introduced to our clients’ horses and distributed through our retail distribution channels.”
About NIGHTWATCH®
The NIGHTWATCH® smart halter™ (www.smarthalter.com) is an all-natural leather breakaway halter housing 2.7 ounces of patented technology that monitors biometrics and behavior in real time at the point-of-care, works across cellular and WiFi networks, offers GPS/geolocation services, and leverages AI to learn and continuously adapt to each horse over time for maximum benefit. In smart mode, careteam members are automatically alerted via text, phone, and email when there is deviation in a horse’s baseline “normal” as measured on the equine distress index® (EDI® ), whereas in manual mode, alerts are issued when the upper limit of a sensor threshold is breached. Access to real-time and historical information is available 24/7 from anywhere in the world via the NIGHTWATCH® App (iOS, Android).
About Protequus®
Protequus® (www.protequus.com) is a privately held biomedical engineering firm based in Austin, TX, USA working to transform the $75Bn+ animal health market through data science for health, performance, and productivity outcomes. Founded in 2013 after the sudden loss of one of his horses to colic, Jeffrey R. Schab, an accomplished equestrian, biomedical engineer, and successful entrepreneur assembled a multidisciplinary team to create an early-warning solution to combat equine colic. Today, that solution is an AI-driven, IoT-enabled predictive-health wearable known as the NIGHTWATCH® smart halter™ that Forbes reports is “one of the most sophisticated IoT devices for animals they’ve ever seen.”
About Exceed Equine
Exceed Equine operates a 30+ acre state-of-the-art research, training, and rehabilitation facility in New Egypt, NJ. Using sensor-driven technology and proprietary AI analytics, Exceed Equine’s goal is to build the most trusted and recognized name in the industry for cutting-edge technologies, services, and products to promote objective decision-making and enhance the performance of racehorses globally. Exceed Equine’s offerings are supported by science, validated by objective processes, and proven safe and effective through their own stable of racehorses.
Contact: Jeffrey R. Schab, +512-515-1095 or jrschab@protequus.com
Contact: Michael Calderone, +702-280-0849 or mike@lvmike.com